Latest Articles

100 nuclear plants: The answer?

  Architecture 2030 will post a better answer on Grist next week. Stay tuned … UPDATE:  Here’s the answer.  

Coal industry downplays prospects for CCS as it seeks more handouts in Senate climate bill

The coal industry got a lot of goodies in the House-passed energy and climate bill, but it’s pressing for even more in the Senate version. At a Senate hearing on the future of coal hosted earlier this week by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), representatives from utilities and coal companies told lawmakers […]

Rep. Rahall to leap out of a plane on behalf of coal

West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall (D) plans to leap out of an airplane to show his support for coal. Yes, really. This comes via Ken Ward Jr., who posted Rahall’s press release on the big event. It is sponsored by Friends of Coal, and will honor the military and law enforcement too (that’s a lot […]

Is China winning the clean energy race?

Photo: Elizabeth Thomsen Today, in global talks, in the Senate, on the street, you still hear a murmur here and there about “not doing anything until India and China sign on.” And this previously pervasive attitude, however obsolete, may already be coming back to bite industrialized nations. Indeed, the big honchos in the West may […]

[UPDATED] Sen. Bernie Sanders cries “monopoly” in a collapsing milk market

Got milk monopoly? UPDATE: Ask and ye shall receive. In a NYT article last Saturday, describing the considerable  resistance anti-trust chief Christine Varney is already experiencing in her attempt to toughen enforcement, came this nugget: At the request of some lawmakers, notably Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont, Ms. Varney is examining whether small agricultural […]

As MRSA gets worse, the FDA discovers antibiotic abuse on factory farms [UPDATED]

Incubating chickens–and what else? FarmSanctuary.org In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages of the meat and livestock industries. UPDATE below. ————————– A bill now circulating in the House, sponsored by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D.-NY), would limit the amount of antibiotics that can be used on factory animal farms. There’s good news and bad […]

Timothy Wirth, natural-gas advocate, takes gas industry to task

This story was written by ProPublica’s Abrahm Lustgarten. Timothy Wirth.They were tough words for the natural gas industry to hear. In a blunt speech before the Colorado Oil and Gas Association last week, Timothy Wirth, a former Colorado Democratic senator and Under Secretary of State for global affairs in the Clinton administration, warned industry leaders […]

The Climate Post: Pools of oil, plumes of gas

First Things First: The Washington-to-Beijing diplomatic shuttle shows no sign of slowing down. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke visited China this week to prod collaboration on clean energy technology. Chu announced the U.S. would contribute $15 million to a partnership that will study how to capture carbon dioxide emissions and trap […]

Pamela Anderson grows her eco-assets, and more

Build me up, double-D cupPamela Anderson sure has grown her assets over the years. She’s transformed from Baywatch babe to eco-entrepreneur — erecting projects in Canada, Abu Dhabi, and now Montenegro. Just one question: will these green buildings have “twin towers”?  

The three things Cass Sunstein should do on his first day

Cass Sunstein.After some minor drama, it looks like Cass Sunstein is finally on the road to confirmation for director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) after being nominated by President Obama in January.  The Senate should schedule a vote as soon as possible so he can get to work.  As I’ve mentioned […]